Crazy! I know a lot of the country is getting slammed with snow right now... cool to see y’all still mashin them cranks. While I do enjoy pleasant year round cycling here in Az... a part of me always misses winter in the PNW. Especially this year... I didn’t get to go see my family over the holidays. I’m looking forward to getting a hard shell bike case to transport a bike up there for spring or summer though! That and playing as much hockey as humanly possible!!!

Today I went to the lbs and bought a set of mtb bars and vans cult grips for my triple tri bike and threw them on. When I came back into cycling about 6 months ago and started looking at the fixed gear culture again, I couldn’t understand the wide mtb style bars. Then I tried them on my kilo TT right before it was stolen last week and needless to say I’m hooked. I still think it looks goofy as hell, but that leverage is killer! Especially on take offs. Just goes to show that those insanely narrow risers kids were running a decade ago died with the whole ‘trend’ of fixed gear riding.

I also switched tires from a thickslick rear and sworks gripton front to gator skins and WOAH... world of difference. In comparison... the thickslick feels sluggish... almost sticky, and heavy! I liked the Sworks put front, it’s quite light but it’s a bit soft for the streets I think. I still want to try out the vittoria corsa G+... but that won’t be until I build up a new to me Schwinn that our friend Dave aka bonsai is sending me... which I’m also getting excited for and already sourcing parts! I’m still hunting for my stolen kilo... but I’m not hopeful. The planning of a new build is keeping me cheerful though.

I’m also pleased to say that I’ve missed a couple weekend days here and there, but I’ve been cycling almost every day since the new year... which was one of the goals I set for 2019. Mostly to and from my shop, and any errands I didn’t need to haul a car worthy load! I feel pretty good and I’m loosing some of the tummy I built up last year being lazy and driving or riding the motorcycle. The only thing I could wish for is that some of the crap roads around here be fixed, and that half my commute to and from my shop wasn’t in gang banger ‘hood. Woooohoo!

He’s a stand up gentleman for sure, was there in a snap to help any way he could. Glad he’s in this small community we’ve got goin here on BF. I’m super greatful to have the opportunity to give his Schwinn a new take on life. I think you guys will like what I have planned!

Scored a set of second hand Omniums at well under half the price of new with a sw8 bling bling gold all city chainring for the mentioned upcoming build. Dunno if the chainring will be put to use being its rather small (45T) and quite ‘flashy’. Time will tell. Crank arms have normal scratches from being ridden, but as most of you know they’ll be cleaned up and polished anyway. Already thinking of designs for custom engraving as well. Lurking eBay and Craig’s religiously for more sweet deals.

I have a njs dura ace 52T chainring with a missing tooth that I acquired with a sugino 75 crank I purchased. Is it a big no-no to run a chainring missing a single tooth?

Woke up to a flat tire. So I on my way to my buddies shop to pick up tubes I stopped at the corner taco stand in my neighborhood. YUM!!!
Now I'm working, wishing it was the weekend and I was outside grilling.

Dust caps finally.

Nice! That’s my go to number for ratio, although I’m at I think 67 something right now on my ‘nice’ bike and I’m having a lot of fun with it. I love going fast but since my motorcycle accident last year I’m finding myself a lot more cautious towards anything excessively fast. Plus spinning faster seems like better cardio... idk if that’s just in my head. Probly.

Yesterday I posted that I stopped by my friends shop to pick up tubes for my flat rear. Well, I had mentioned that my kilo had been stolen. That flat rear tire was a blessing in disguise! Well...sort of. He called me about 2 hours after I had gotten to my shop and said, “hey man, I think I found the kilo”. I knew he probly had it, as it’s not at all stock looking. So I locked up the shop, set the alarm, and hauled ass to his. Sure enough got there and there it was behind the counter! I think I was so happy that I didn’t notice the bad at first. I went back and then it hit me like a ton of bricks. The wheels had been taken off and replaced with some in branded mud covered, warped, and almost non rolling hubs. That really bummed me out because that wheelset was the first I ever built and trued myself. ****, I thought to myself. Then I inspected further. Realized they had either taken or cut off my hood fast straps. Then the worst came. I went to the NDS of the bike and saw that the bottom of the downtube and seat tube where they meet at the BB shell had been CRUSHED. So bad that it had cracked on parts of the downtube weld. I can’t even imagine how that was done! There are plenty of other minor dings and scratches all over the bike and it amazes me how much damage was done in just one week by some piece of SCUM!

Im very thankful that I at least got something back as apposed to nothing but damn! Also thankful to my friend for sticking up for me and what’s right and telling the person who brought it in that it was stolen and that he wasn’t gonna leave with the bicycle. My homie gave me the name and number to the guy who had it but his phone was off all day which is highly suspect. He said he got it off of someone else and that he has their info... but that could all be BS. I’ll give it a couple days before I call again and if I don’t get a response I’ll turn it over to the police. I’m not a fan of this and would rather settle it personally but if that’s not an option I’ll do it.

So! My situation hasn’t changed much... I could probably grind and re weld the cracks, but the tubing would still be crushed and always unsettling as to the safety of riding it. That being said I’m just going to continue with my plans of building up the Schwinn but hopefully save a few bucks in the components I recovered. What a day...

huh?

ahhhh haha! No worries amigo, I totally agree. I already made some for this bike but I lost one the other day, so making some new ones

thanks man! It’s gonna get stripped and painted once I get another bike rolling.

Just got home from the bike co op and scored some treasures. Some nice sets of bars, a simple origin 8 stem that I’m gonna fancy up, and a KILLER NOS turbo matic with all original packaging! I almost didn’t believe it when I looked behind the counter. Good day.

I don’t even risk locking this bike up. It stays inside with me at home or at work. If I’m going somewhere I know I’ll have to lock up, say the grocery store or whatever... I’ll ride another bike. I’m definately gonna invest in some of those special anti theft bolts and loop some chain on the bike that does get locked up though!